The Jacksonville Jaguars have retained the services of offensive line coach Andy Heck.
Heck, a former first round draft pick who played 12 seasons in the NFL, has been with the Jaguars since 2004.
In 2011, Heck’s offensive line paved the way for the NFL’s leading rusher, Maurice Jones-Drew, despite dealing with injuries to key players and frequent shuffling of the starting lineup.
As good as the offensive line was at run blocking, they need to make strides in protecting quarterback Blaine Gabbert, who was hit way too many times during the 2011 season. Some of that can be attributed to the inability of his wide receivers to get open, and some of it was due to Gabbert’s inexperience in the pocket, but the offensive line also shares some of the blame and must step up its pass protection in order for Gabbert to make the kind of strides he needs to make for the offense to fire on all cylinders in 2012.
